Some Words From Our Patron Josette

As Face Front have been celebrating 25 years of working in and championing inclusive work for communities, we were thrilled to catch up with Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE from her office at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where she is now principle. Josette became on of Face Front Inclusive Theatre’s very first patrons, having been asked by founding Artistic Director; Annie Smol MBE.

Ray Downing, current Artistic Director of Face Front, spoke with Josette about the many successes of our twenty fifth year,  which have included a national tour of a new play for young people (The Hero Next Door), two successful Theatre-in-Education tours into schools, colleges and theatres around the country, and a hugely successful ‘FaceFrontFest’23’ that featured work from our own community groups as well as other Enfield based creatives.

During this meeting, Ray noticed that the room Josette was speaking to him from was where his interview for the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was held twenty five years ago! This realisation was a nice way to further highlight the longstanding links between Face Front and Central.

Face Front’s meeting with Josette was a lovely opportunity to reaffirm a lasting relationship between people who are passionate about promoting the importance and value off inclusive practice within the arts. Josette sent us the following quote following the meeting:

‘’Face Front are amazing. I am a proud patron to a company that creates ambitious, inclusive practice, diverse arts and culture, as well as celebrating community. The breadth of work and the impact by such a small company, across education, inclusion and belonging , training and theatre , is quite simply astounding. A company to follow and support‘’ 

Our thanks and best wishes to Josette for her continued support of our work.